I normally don't make New Year's resolutions, although I do set a few specific goals for myself. Last year it was to read twenty books during the year (I signed up for the Goodreads challenge), and I achieved that goal. I also vowed to write at least twelve blog posts per month, and I met that goal as well. But the reason I don't make resolutions is because they are often too vague--exercise more, eat more vegetables, etc. I try to follow them, but I know I will not live up to those resolutions in the same way as I try to meet my goals. I think the difference is the level of commitment. A resolution is more of a decision to do something without necessarily being committed to doing it, whereas a goal involves commitment to a vision of how one wants the future to work out. It is the commitment part that drives me; once I set a goal, I want to achieve it.
This year I have goals as well, and they involve publishing the books I have been working on for the past several years. I won't do the Goodreads challenge this year, so that I can devote more time to finishing my own books. I will continue to write this blog, but the number of posts will vary each month as they always have (except in 2018).
Books, movies, photography, traveling, and writing are the interests that I try to prioritize. In many instances, I can combine several of these, e.g. traveling, photography and writing, and produce a photo-essay that describes where we've been and what we've experienced. But otherwise, reading and movies facilitate a type of travel that I have long been used to. Ever since I was a child, I have traveled to new realms in these ways. I will continue to do so in the coming years.
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Why I loved La La Land
If you haven’t seen La
La Land, the movie musical that won and lost the Oscar for best picture in
the space of a few minutes (it was mistakenly announced as Best Picture at the
Oscar awards), see it. It was nominated in fourteen Oscar categories, and won ten
of them (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3783958/awards).
The Oscar fiasco is quickly forgotten when you slip into the world that
La La Land creates. I am not a real
movie musical fan—it’s not my favorite genre—but if more of these kinds of
musicals are made in the coming years, I may become one. The songs in this film
are lovely, catchy, bittersweet and memorable. There is an air of respect in
the movie that is rare these days. It was a refreshing change to experience
that level of respect for nearly everything in a film--respect for the genre, for
the actors, for the plot, for jazz music, for acting, for individual dreams, for
good manners, for courtship and good old-fashioned romance (more important than
one often likes to admit), for serious conversations, and overall for the art
of movie-making. That art is on display in full force in this movie—stylish lovely sets,
historical references to the Hollywood of a bygone era and to a Los Angeles of
a bygone era as well. It’s a dreamy, dreamlike film in some respects that has
its feet firmly planted on the ground in most respects. Boy meets girl, they
don’t get together right away, and then they do. Both are talented individuals
who have big dreams, and whose pursuits of those dreams unite them in a common
cause. They love each other and they want the other to succeed. And when the
other doubts himself or herself, they are there to remind them of the bigger
picture, the goal, the big dream. They are there to remind them to never give
up. Neither of them do. I loved pretty much everything about this movie. It
evoked just the right amount of nostalgia for a (presumably) more innocent
time, the longing for a time in one’s life when everything was still new and
untested, when love was new, when conversations between people mattered as a
way of getting to know them. It illustrated the importance of striving tirelessly
to achieve your dreams regardless of the outcome (not always a happy ending),
of not compromising or settling for the
job that gives you the most money, of believing in yourself even when everything
seems to be falling apart around you or when the voice of reason is telling you
to give in and settle for less. Along the way, we are treated to acting that
tugs at your heartstrings (Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were wonderful together
and singly) and a story that reminds you of that time in your life when dreams and love
were new and your future, largely unknown and somewhat daunting, was ahead of
you. There were some really good dance numbers and some memorable songs. I found myself
humming one of the songs (the one that Ryan Gosling whistles when he is walking
out on the pier) on the way out of the movie theater. The director, Damien
Chazelle, makes it clear that the typical Hollywood happy ending as depicted in the
fantasy sequence at the end of the film is not always the ending in real life for those who achieve their dreams. Boy and girl don’t always ride off
into the sunset together. We need that reminder, even though we are rooting for
the couple to be together against all odds. Sometimes we experience a love when
we are young that transcends us and our real lives, and we are not ready for
it. Or it may simply serve another purpose—to bring out the best in ourselves and to help us achieve our dreams—and that
kind of love is to be cherished for a lifetime.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
On the journey
“It is good
to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the
end.” Ursula K Le Guin
When I
wrote my doctoral thesis back in the late 1990s, I used this quote in the
preface. It was quite relevant at the time, since my doctoral work was a long
journey toward the PhD degree, which seemed so unattainable at times.
Especially during the difficult times in the lab, when things were not going
well or taking too long, or when my articles were rejected and sent back to me.
When I finally reached my goal, I realized that much of the enjoyment in
pursuing a goal is in fact the journey toward it. I realized that the lab work,
no matter how difficult or frustrating, was part and parcel of the entire
experience. You don’t get to be a full-fledged scientist without dealing with
frustration, long hours in the lab, difficulties, crying fits, wanting to give
up, waking up the next day and feeling ok again and wanting to start anew. Pursuing
a doctorate is a difficult experience; it’s a challenge that you are not likely to forget the rest of your life. I see that in some of the students I have advised during the
past decade; they struggled, some hit the wall temporarily, but they kept going
in spite of setbacks. One or two were whiz kids and managed to finish in three
years what it took others six years to achieve. We all have a different road to
follow. If it takes you longer than it takes another, then it does. That’s your
journey. Sometimes, it’s what we learn along the way in terms of patience,
tenacity, faith, hope, and camaraderie that keeps us going. You learn that ‘no
man is an island’; that your fellow students and/or co-workers are there for
mutual support. That complaining is part of life and work, but that solving
problems instead of complaining is preferable. Life is a long journey for most of us, if we're lucky; there is no point in kvetching
continually. The fact remains that life really is not fair; it doesn’t always
go the way we want it to. But sometimes it does, and goals get achieved. And part
of the journey in this life is taking the time to enjoy those achievements, to
look at them and say, I did this, yippee. We need sometimes to pat ourselves on
the back and say ‘job well-done’, before we start on the next journey toward a
new goal. Because that’s a reality of life too. We are never done, we are never
satisfied; we are perpetually meeting the next challenge. Each decade has
its challenges and goals, I see that more clearly now than when I was younger.
It became even clearer this past weekend when I was together with several
elderly women, all of whom are in their 80s; their journeys continue—the challenges
are different—most of them have to do with the vagaries of old age—but they remain
journeyers. They remain
interested in the world around them, they are social, kind, patient with
themselves and others; they have achieved a certain wisdom that comes from a
long life journey. They are my role models.
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